Book Summaries
The Romantic movement (A History of Western Philosophy)
The romantic movement had a taste for scenery and gothic architecture, they liked what was strange, ghosts, pirates, the occult sciences, mesmerism. The realists reacted against Romanticism.
The romantic movement had a taste for scenery and gothic architecture, they liked what was strange, ghosts, pirates, the occult sciences, mesmerism.
The realists reacted against Romanticism. But the extreme emotions that are embraced by the Romantics are destructive, they include: anger, hatred, despair, outraged pride, jealousy. The kind of man that is a model for romantics is an anarchic rebel, violent, antisocial, and a conquering tyrant.
By self-interest, man has become gregarious, but in instinct he has remained to a great extent solitary; hence the need of religion and morality to reinforce self-interest.Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy
But forgoing the present for the future is difficult. When passions are aroused, the prudent restraints of social rules become hard to endure. Those who throw them off gain a new energy and sense of power from the cessation of inner conflict. While they may come to disaster in the end, they enjoy a sense of godlike exaltation, while known by the mystics, cannot be experienced by pedestrian virtue.
The solitary part of their nature reasserts itself, but if the intellect survives the reassertion must clothe itself in myth. The mystic becomes one with God, and in the contemplation of the Infinite feels himself absolved from duty to his neighbour. The anarchic rebel does even better: he feels himself not one with God, but God.Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy
Truth and duty, which represent our subjection to matter and to society, do not exist for the man who has become God.
If we could all live solitary and without labor, we could enjoy the ecstasy of independence, but we cannot, so its delights can only be enjoyed by madmen and dictators.
Christianity managed to tame the ego, but the economic, political, and intellectual causes spurred a revolt against the churches. The romantic movement brought the revolt into the sphere of morals. By encouraging a lawless Ego, it made cooperation among people impossible. Its disciples were left with the alternative of anarchy or despotism.
At first, egoism allowed men to feel a tenderness from others, but when they discovered that others had their own ego, the disappointed desire for tenderness transformed to hatred and violence.
Man is not a solitary animal, and so long as social life survives, self realization cannot be the supreme principle of ethicsBertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy
YARPP List
Related posts:
- Ancient Philosophy (A History of Western Philosophy)
- A History of Western Philosophy Summary (9/10)
- ST Thomas Aquinas (A History of Western Philosophy)
- John Dewey (A History of Western Philosophy)
Keep Reading
Related Articles
Book Summaries
The Courage to be Oneself (Man’s Search for Himself)
> The courage to be one’s self is scarcely admired as the top virtue these days. One trouble is that many people still associate that kind of courage with the stuffy attitudes of the self-made men of the late nineteenth century, or with the somewhat ridiculous no matter how sincere “I-am-the-master-
Book Summaries
“The obstacle is the path.” – Zen Proverb
The seemingly paradoxical statement “The obstacle is the path” encapsulates a profound insight shared by ancient Stoic philosophy and Zen Buddhist teachings: that challenges, difficulties, and impediments are not merely barriers to our goals but are, in fact, the very means by whi
Book Summaries
Part 2: Create a Need – Stir Anxiety and Discontent (The Art of Seduction)
> “What can Love be then?” I said. “A mortal?” “Far from it.” “Well, what?” “As in my previous examples, he is half-way between mortal and immortal.” What sort of being is he then, Diotima?” “He is a great spirit, Socrates; everything that is of the nature of a spirit is half-god and half- man.” . .
Book Summaries
A Summary of The Power of Broke by Daymond John (7/10)
*The Power of Broke* is a book written by Daymond John, an entrepreneur and investor who rose to fame as the founder of the urban clothing line FUBU. The book is about how [scarcity](https://www.amazon.